2009 Night Club and Bar recap and gallery

The 2009 Nightclub & Bar Convention and Trade Show took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center on March 3rd and 4th. Attendees were club, bar and restaurant owners and managers, as well as on-premise distributors looking for new alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to stock.

Fry Fabrications, sponsor of BevNET’s coverage of the show was busy showcasing their custom-designed on-premise accessories to enhance a consumer’s club & restaurant experience.

As in previous shows, on-premise liquor and spirit companies accounted for the majority of beverage exhibitors on the trade floor. Décor, electronics, foodservice equipment and POS/signage were also in abundance. On the alcohol side, new vodka, tequila, absinthe, rum, and flavored spirits debuted. Interestingly, Soju’s and sake’s were also well represented.

However, an obviously direct sign of the economy, the actual square footage of the trade floor was considerably smaller than last year along with the number of non-alcoholic beverages exhibiting – perhaps taking a larger hit than their alcoholic brethren. Noticeably absent exhibitors which had flashy booths at previous shows included Red Bull, Rockstar, PepsiCo, Miller/Coors and Heineken. Energy drinks were much lower in attendance this year with Monster, Roaring Lion, and Liquid Ice occupying the largest booth presence in the category.

According to Sean Hackney of Roaring Lion, “The number of Exhibitors this year appeared to be significantly lower than last – with several anchor brands opting not to attend. The number of energy drink booths was down to 8 from 35 last year. It was a pleasure to have a dominating floor presence.”

However, attendance seemed to be high, with the aisles crowded and sometimes congested both days.

“We had great foot traffic and the quality of the participants was exceptional,” said Hackney. “On Premise professionals showed up eager to make good business.”

While the energy category has consolidated this year, mixers, spring waters, and detox brands picked up the slack. Here’s a sampling of what we saw at the show this year.